10 Star Trek Characters With The Most Extreme Development

For this list, we considered adding Michael Burnham, but honestly believed that Mary Wiseman's Sylvia Tilly has shown just a pinch more development in the four seasons of Star Trek: Discovery released so far - let's check back in a year to see how this holds up.

Tilly, much like the rest of the Discovery crew, is introduced in the third episode of the show. She is the nervous, but highly excitable, cadet who is still very much studying at the Academy, though she is on assignment here. In the first season, she is set up as a bright-eyed sidekick to Burnham, though her foray into the Mirror Universe gives her a chance to show some of her new-found confidence.

The second season depicts her attempt to master the command study program under Captain Pike. It's her arrival in the 32nd Century that truly sees her blossom, dealing with the grief of having left everyone she's ever known behind, and facing a very uncertain future.

Who better, then, to instruct the new cadets at Starfleet's re-opened Academy in the show's fourth season. The close of this arc sees her go from a frightened cadet to a confident officer, sitting with Admiral Vance as Earth faces certain doom, sharing a drink with him. They of course survive - but Tilly of the 23rd Century would simply not have been there. Tilly of the 32nd Century would not have been anywhere else.

The announcement of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will hopefully see Wiseman reprise the role to continue Tilly's growth for years to come.